Genetic haplogroup J1 is very rare in Britain. The haplogroup is not indigenous, nor was it a part of the early mass migrations into Britain from Europe. Some appear to have sailed here from one of the Phoenician colonies, probably from the city states of Carthage, North Africa, or Cadiz, Spain.

YSearch.org lists members of all these 'British' families as being J1. Not all males with these surnames will be J1. Some of these families are descended from Phoenician traders.

Many Phoenicians are J1 (a subclade of Halogroup J) which originated in the area we now know as the Lebanon and spread through trading and settlement all around the Mediterranean. Its second main 'hotspot' was the Phoenician colony Carthage, which later became the greatest power in the ancient world. The Phoenicians also took J1 to the Atlantic coast of Europe, Africa and both North and South America - hundreds of years before Columbus. They also left there genetic print on the British Isles (and Ireland).

If YOU are a male you can discover relations around the world and trace your roots, by taking a Y-DNA test. These are available from numerous commercial DNA laboratories. Plus you can find matches by submitting your results to online databases such as -Y-Search, Ybase and SMGF.